Cultured Black Garlic Butter
Descriptions of black garlic online exist somewhere between scientific classification and soft core erotica. If you do make it past paragraphs of Maillard induced umami richness without feeling both confused and aroused, what you’re left with is a rich caramel-garlic flavoured ingredient which is just as comfortable in a Wednesday night spag bol as it is a dinner party.
A recent trip to the Isle of Wight brought my cooking inspiration back. At The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight you can buying varieties of garlic from Elephant, to Iberian to smoked and more. My cold dark heart is naturally drawn to anything dark and smoky so I chose smoked and black varieties and immediately knew the recipe to use it it for.
I’ve been wanting to make cultured butter since visiting The Frog Hoxton last year. Cultured butter is cream that’s fermented with 10% yoghurt before churning to give it a tangy, sour taste.
The recipe below comes from Kuba Winkowski’s recipe on Great British Chefs, with the addition of black garlic and Himalayan salt. The key points are good quality cream, patience and knowing your guests tolerance for garlic. Black garlic comes without the usual heat of the usual garlic but still, mine can ward off vampires.
Ingredients:
450g double cream
50g natural yoghurt
1 tsp Himalayan salt
3 cloves of black garlic, mashed.
Method
Mix the cream and yoghurt together in a large mixing bowl. Cover with cling film, then leave in a warm place for 48 hours.
Once fermented, place the bowl into the fridge for at least 4 hours to chill completely
Transfer the chilled, set cream mixture to a stand mixer (or into a large bowl if using a hand mixer)
4. Beat at a medium speed for around 5 minutes, until the buttermilk starts to separate from the solids. At first it will seem like not much is happening, but suddenly the solids and liquids will begin separating. The liquid will begin to splash. I userd a hand mixed so half covered the bowl with a tea towel.
5. Once it looks like the butter curds have separated completely from the buttermilk, pour the mixture into a colander to separate the liquids and solids. Use your hands to gently squeeze the curds to extract as much buttermilk as possible.
6. Place the solids back in the stand mixer (or bowl) and reserve the buttermilk, which can be used in all sorts of recipes. Give the solids another mix with the paddle or hand mixer for a few minutes to extract any remaining liquid, then strain once more.
7.Use your hands to wash the butter in the bowl of cold water, squeezing and kneading it to remove the final remnants of buttermilk. Change the water several times and keep doing this until the water stays clear. Take the butter out of the water and place it on your work surface covered with clingfilm. Continue to squeeze and knead the butter, wiping the surface regularly to keep it dry and remove moisture. Transfer the butter to a clean tea towel and squeeze it to remove as much moisture as possible. Change the clingfilm so you now have a fresh sheet on your surface.
8. Place the drained, squeezed butter on the fresh clingfilm and spread it out using your hands.
9. Sprinkle over the salt, then use the dough scraper, spatular or fork to knead it in ensuring it’s evenly distributed. This helps with flavour and shelf life of your butter.
10. As you go through this process the butter may begin to melt. If so, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up.
11. Now peel one black garlic clove, slice then mash with a fork until it forms a paste. Spread the paste onto the butter and continue to kneed. When fully incorporated, spread a small amount of the butter onto some bread to measure the flavour and assess if you’d like to add the other garlic cloves.
12. Now it’s time to portion and shape the butter. To do this, form the butter into a log on the clingfilm, lift the far side of the film and pull it firmly towards you over the butter. Use it to shape the butter into a sausage by rolling the back and forth. Finally roll clingfilm around the butter and twist both ends to seal.
13. Label the butter and put it in the fridge. When you need a portion simply slide a section, ensuring you reseal the end afterwards.
14. The butter will last for 3 weeks in the fridge or months in the freezer.